Hey you guys! Welcome back.
I just kinda want to talk a bit about what's been going on lately.
On Friday I escaped town and ended up in Phoenix for the Amazing Arizona Con!
I had a personal goal to talk to the artists there and find out what they did to transition from student / non-professional to professional / independent artists.
I spent a lot of time looking around at their wares and work, there was a lot of impressive people! The advice started sounding the same. There are components to becoming successful. It seems the major thing is to do what you love. Every artist clearly said that if you're doing what you love then it's never work and it doesn't matter how you end up doing it, you'll always find a way. Another thing they said was LUCK. Yep. They were lucky and said the right thing to someone at sometime or another and it got them mentioned for something bigger. So to say that clearly, NETWORKING, not so much luck. I saw what they meant. There was a lot of stuff and I ended up learning some valuable stuff just by creating conversation. If you think about it, they were once art students like me, or you, if you are, so they were in the same spot.
This made me think about the people who I look up to, and I saw that they all started hanging out because they all had similar goals in mind, as well as similar jokes. That made them friends, which in turn helped them produce work faster, and develop a better quality of work since they all could critique it.
This is why I love my friends. We are a group of people who inspire each other to be better and produce good work, while using each other to accomplish these goals. This is why I always push hard for critiques on my work as I'm developing ideas as well as working in full production. Advice and guidance are invaluable. It's also important to stay open minded. It's good to have a firm idea or belief but it's great to be able to mold and adapt it. It's how art stays growing and organic.
Cons are a great way to get inspired, at least for me. I came back home excited to see that I am loosely a part of this community and what shocked me the most was that these artists that I connected with had a small vested interest in my success. I guess they saw me as an equal and not some guy who's just a fan.
Currently I'm locked in a battle of doing storyboards. As well as figuring out the events that happen to my poor protagonist. I have some good shot ideas and what not so it's a lot of writing, thinking what's funny, thinking about what happened, and then figuring out how to put it all together. Once that's done though I can throw it into AfterEffects and do an animatic, put in some scratch sound and work on my animation title card.
What I'm going to get done after this step will consist of figuring out if what I have for storyboards works. Making sure I don't linger too long on a shot, or send the wrong message with a bad shot comp. The story is a bit sad but it's about self growth and self reliance. So I hope it leaves a good feeling in your heart when it's over.
Some things that are working right now are watching a lot of cartoons to get shot ideas.
Things that aren't working are me- It's been hard to actually break the page with my marks and get those ideas down on paper.
Sunday, January 26, 2014
Saturday, January 18, 2014
Senior Term!
Well, it's crazy to think that I've made it.
Everything I've ever done has lead up to this moment.
People have their eyes set on me.
It's time to chase my dreams guys!
I just recently got a laptop to do artwork on the go. It's a pretty powerful system. I just need to get some basic programs on there like Flash and Photoshop in order to be a mobile force.
I'm currently working on some senior stuff!
Sorry about the lack of posts in the past, it's just been really hard to get motivated to do stuff.
I got my watercolors home which means I can start doing some stuff that interests me as far as that goes.
This senior stuff is, hopefully, going to be pretty deep on a level that anyone can relate to.
I'm going to be doing a lot of posting here with in the next 15 weeks, and hopefully continue to post more as the year comes to a close.
So you notice how I said I'm working on my senior stuff? I'm going to tell my story.
I'm going to give the school what it is I went through to get to where I am right now, but in animated form.
Things going on with this are crazy!
I have a production schedule I'm trying to adhere to. I told myself this year isn't another one where I can procrastinate and do NOTHING all the time. It's time to do stuff! It's time to follow my dreams. It's time to be what I am meant to be. Which is a great storyteller, a good animator and a bad ass artist!
The schedule goes as follows:
Jan 15th > Feb 6th > March 5th > April 21st > May 5th
Development Animatic Production Post Final film
Now obviously, work will overflow into one another earlier or later than planned so that's always going to be a thing. As long as I understand it will get done I'll try and have as much fun as possible!
Currently I'm developing a few more ideas for my story, and essentially everything is already developed only because I have to pull from my own memories of how I got here. The pitch in class went over really well which shocked me. I need to work out how to tell the story without using any words. Now, this should be a cinch, but I just need to figure out the middle part with the conflict and how the resolution comes in and wraps it up. Nothing a little storyboarding can't help.
What I'll be tackling after that is some solid design. Since I picked Flash as my vessel, and I have my crew, it's a matter of plotting the course. I just need to figure out how to be a symbiotic entity with Flash, so I can use it to the fullest, while making some cool art. Style will dictate how my characters, backgrounds, and layout look.
Things that are working right now as far as my tasks go are setting a solid sleep schedule, work schedule, and life schedule. Juggling these things was tough in the past only because I never took things seriously enough. Nothing was life or death. This time I'm being as serious as possible. Something is just fueling me to be successful. I don't want to be someone who doesn't use their degree.
Things that aren't working... It's hard to say it but I can't decide on how to draw these characters. I just need to nail something down but I'm unsatisfied with anything that's come out of my pen. I just need to look at things that I love and maybe pull from some stuff I did in my childhood. Like my old stuffed monster companion who I'm loosely basing this off of. Another thing that hasn't worked, which I am glad for, is that my second idea was shot down. I wanted to do 3 animated pieces. Ambitious, I know! The fact that I thought I could do it was going to spread me too thin, and I'd rather have one solid piece that does exactly what I want versus 3 pieces that are mediocre.
The things that I went over for my story were received well by my peers, it's crazy to think that I can make stories with much appeal. It seems that when I actually try, I get the results.
I'm happy to see in the past that my designs and stories were appealing to all who have seen it. It excites me to do my best on this project.
Everything I've ever done has lead up to this moment.
People have their eyes set on me.
It's time to chase my dreams guys!
I just recently got a laptop to do artwork on the go. It's a pretty powerful system. I just need to get some basic programs on there like Flash and Photoshop in order to be a mobile force.
I'm currently working on some senior stuff!
Sorry about the lack of posts in the past, it's just been really hard to get motivated to do stuff.
I got my watercolors home which means I can start doing some stuff that interests me as far as that goes.
This senior stuff is, hopefully, going to be pretty deep on a level that anyone can relate to.
I'm going to be doing a lot of posting here with in the next 15 weeks, and hopefully continue to post more as the year comes to a close.
So you notice how I said I'm working on my senior stuff? I'm going to tell my story.
I'm going to give the school what it is I went through to get to where I am right now, but in animated form.
Things going on with this are crazy!
I have a production schedule I'm trying to adhere to. I told myself this year isn't another one where I can procrastinate and do NOTHING all the time. It's time to do stuff! It's time to follow my dreams. It's time to be what I am meant to be. Which is a great storyteller, a good animator and a bad ass artist!
The schedule goes as follows:
Jan 15th > Feb 6th > March 5th > April 21st > May 5th
Development Animatic Production Post Final film
Now obviously, work will overflow into one another earlier or later than planned so that's always going to be a thing. As long as I understand it will get done I'll try and have as much fun as possible!
Currently I'm developing a few more ideas for my story, and essentially everything is already developed only because I have to pull from my own memories of how I got here. The pitch in class went over really well which shocked me. I need to work out how to tell the story without using any words. Now, this should be a cinch, but I just need to figure out the middle part with the conflict and how the resolution comes in and wraps it up. Nothing a little storyboarding can't help.
What I'll be tackling after that is some solid design. Since I picked Flash as my vessel, and I have my crew, it's a matter of plotting the course. I just need to figure out how to be a symbiotic entity with Flash, so I can use it to the fullest, while making some cool art. Style will dictate how my characters, backgrounds, and layout look.
Things that are working right now as far as my tasks go are setting a solid sleep schedule, work schedule, and life schedule. Juggling these things was tough in the past only because I never took things seriously enough. Nothing was life or death. This time I'm being as serious as possible. Something is just fueling me to be successful. I don't want to be someone who doesn't use their degree.
Things that aren't working... It's hard to say it but I can't decide on how to draw these characters. I just need to nail something down but I'm unsatisfied with anything that's come out of my pen. I just need to look at things that I love and maybe pull from some stuff I did in my childhood. Like my old stuffed monster companion who I'm loosely basing this off of. Another thing that hasn't worked, which I am glad for, is that my second idea was shot down. I wanted to do 3 animated pieces. Ambitious, I know! The fact that I thought I could do it was going to spread me too thin, and I'd rather have one solid piece that does exactly what I want versus 3 pieces that are mediocre.
The things that I went over for my story were received well by my peers, it's crazy to think that I can make stories with much appeal. It seems that when I actually try, I get the results.
I'm happy to see in the past that my designs and stories were appealing to all who have seen it. It excites me to do my best on this project.
Monday, September 23, 2013
Summer was cool
We're full on into the Fall term of 2013. I'm pretty beat already. Working a lot, saving money... Getting ready for the real world next year. Hoping I'm ready to... BE.. something.
Here's my sound design work that I liked.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4Jc1EeIsiM
I guess you have to do it yourself since blogger wont let me embed it.
A water color I did for an animal drawing class.
I'm animating in flash and in Maya this term. Keep an eye out for that stuff!
Here's my sound design work that I liked.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4Jc1EeIsiM
I guess you have to do it yourself since blogger wont let me embed it.
I'm animating in flash and in Maya this term. Keep an eye out for that stuff!
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Spring 2013 COMPRETE!
3D II
Digital Environments
Static shots of my digital environment.
Illustration Media
Hey guys... So that's my stuff. That's what I did. Lots of fucking learning. Lots of, "OH SHIT, I'M GOING TO FAIL!" Lots of, "Holy fuck... I'm never going to be good enough..."
But look at the stuff I did. I mean. I think I can do stuff relatively well in 3D. I know that my Winston character wouldn't cut it in the industry. But Yugo... Everything I could do right is on that model. All my mistakes are on Winston. It's kind of how I wanted it to be though. I valued Yugo a lot more because in my mind he was the coolest character.
My environment stuff was pretty much just trying to compete with the seniors in my class, who were really fucking good at what they were doing. I just hope I matched their level of skill.
I wish I would have waited to take that class so that way I would have had more 3D experience. But you know what? I think I did a pretty damn good job. It was like running a marathon as an overweight guy and finishing.
So in media... Lots of learning. Lots of techniques I can apply to my animation. I'm just trying to be as good as the illustration majors in the class. I hope that I can keep working with some of the mediums. I find water color to be very relaxing. Just really hard for me to get started... I had 4 or 5 attempts on this sea turtle before I got this last one.
 |
| Winston T. Weatherbottom |
 |
| Yugo Wrestler |
Digital Environments
Static shots of my digital environment.
Illustration Media
 | |
| Water Color |
Hey guys... So that's my stuff. That's what I did. Lots of fucking learning. Lots of, "OH SHIT, I'M GOING TO FAIL!" Lots of, "Holy fuck... I'm never going to be good enough..."
But look at the stuff I did. I mean. I think I can do stuff relatively well in 3D. I know that my Winston character wouldn't cut it in the industry. But Yugo... Everything I could do right is on that model. All my mistakes are on Winston. It's kind of how I wanted it to be though. I valued Yugo a lot more because in my mind he was the coolest character.
My environment stuff was pretty much just trying to compete with the seniors in my class, who were really fucking good at what they were doing. I just hope I matched their level of skill.
I wish I would have waited to take that class so that way I would have had more 3D experience. But you know what? I think I did a pretty damn good job. It was like running a marathon as an overweight guy and finishing.
So in media... Lots of learning. Lots of techniques I can apply to my animation. I'm just trying to be as good as the illustration majors in the class. I hope that I can keep working with some of the mediums. I find water color to be very relaxing. Just really hard for me to get started... I had 4 or 5 attempts on this sea turtle before I got this last one.
Sunday, April 28, 2013
The final stretch of Spring 2013!
Wow... It's all I can say.
I mean. I know that I've said in the past that I've learned a lot. But this term.. I just keep stacking and stacking more and more on top of the stuff stored in my brain. This school thing is pretty intense!
What's more insane is that hopefully this time next year I will be graduating. It looks like I can even complete my minor in illustration as well!
Seems as though my hard work the first two years of school has paid off and has allowed me to focus heavily on my senior classes with no interruption.
So as far as things have been:
3DII
I've been working on two character models, very slowly. The way we had to do it was come up with our concept drawings and get a design with much appeal. Then do orthographic views for them and work them a bit more. We then learned how to proxy model. After the proxy was made we tweaked our drawings a bit more to help with the modeling process. We then learned how to do basic box modeling to create a simple human mesh. From there we've learned a lot about topology and how to get forms to look great, as well as keeping them ready to animate so the riggers don't have such a hard time. We also learned a lot about UV mapping these types of characters.
Winston T. Weatherbottom
A clown who is depressed. He's mentally challenged with the goal of finding his parents, who gave him up as a child. He became a clown in a traveling circus to help him get around to find them.
He doesn't like it very much. The only thing he loves is his teddy bear, Wuggles.
Yugo
A bear from Russia. His main desire in life is to be the world champion wrestler. He goes along with the circus to challenge anyone who dares. He is trying to further his career by challenging everyone where the circus may end up.
Digital Environments
In this class we were given a theme: Romani Caravan
We had to do a lot of research to find out what it meant. We put ourselves in their shoes and tried to imagine life like a Gypsy. We agreed on an era, the mid 1800's, and all came up with an archetype we liked from fiction / non fiction.
I chose my hero.. Samus Aran. This made things interesting because at first I was trying to put her from the future into the past, and imagining all the tech she had and making it old. Which was cool. But I got carried away. I then just focused on the archetype she was and worked around that, which spawned a lot of great ideas for props and inspired the design of her caravan a lot.
I learned a lot and I'm sure I wish, to this day, that I would have taken this class later in my education because there was just so much to learn that stressed me out A LOT while trying to get things done.
Illustration Media
In this class I learned a lot about techniques that involved a lot of different media.
We did a scratch board piece.
A color theory piece.
A pastel piece.
A color pencil piece
And our final is a watercolor piece.
So keep an eye out for what my caravan looks like finished. I've been working with lighting. It's already different than those pictures I just posted. There will be a link to it on youtube, I'm sure, so that way I can show off what I did.
I will update what Winston and Yugo look like with colors and textures as well as I'll show you what my illustration final will be.
Thanks for taking time to check it out.
I mean. I know that I've said in the past that I've learned a lot. But this term.. I just keep stacking and stacking more and more on top of the stuff stored in my brain. This school thing is pretty intense!
What's more insane is that hopefully this time next year I will be graduating. It looks like I can even complete my minor in illustration as well!
Seems as though my hard work the first two years of school has paid off and has allowed me to focus heavily on my senior classes with no interruption.
So as far as things have been:
3DII
I've been working on two character models, very slowly. The way we had to do it was come up with our concept drawings and get a design with much appeal. Then do orthographic views for them and work them a bit more. We then learned how to proxy model. After the proxy was made we tweaked our drawings a bit more to help with the modeling process. We then learned how to do basic box modeling to create a simple human mesh. From there we've learned a lot about topology and how to get forms to look great, as well as keeping them ready to animate so the riggers don't have such a hard time. We also learned a lot about UV mapping these types of characters.
Winston T. Weatherbottom
A clown who is depressed. He's mentally challenged with the goal of finding his parents, who gave him up as a child. He became a clown in a traveling circus to help him get around to find them.
He doesn't like it very much. The only thing he loves is his teddy bear, Wuggles.
Yugo
A bear from Russia. His main desire in life is to be the world champion wrestler. He goes along with the circus to challenge anyone who dares. He is trying to further his career by challenging everyone where the circus may end up.
Digital Environments
In this class we were given a theme: Romani Caravan
We had to do a lot of research to find out what it meant. We put ourselves in their shoes and tried to imagine life like a Gypsy. We agreed on an era, the mid 1800's, and all came up with an archetype we liked from fiction / non fiction.
I chose my hero.. Samus Aran. This made things interesting because at first I was trying to put her from the future into the past, and imagining all the tech she had and making it old. Which was cool. But I got carried away. I then just focused on the archetype she was and worked around that, which spawned a lot of great ideas for props and inspired the design of her caravan a lot.
I learned a lot and I'm sure I wish, to this day, that I would have taken this class later in my education because there was just so much to learn that stressed me out A LOT while trying to get things done.
Illustration Media
In this class I learned a lot about techniques that involved a lot of different media.
We did a scratch board piece.
A color theory piece.
A pastel piece.
A color pencil piece
And our final is a watercolor piece.
So keep an eye out for what my caravan looks like finished. I've been working with lighting. It's already different than those pictures I just posted. There will be a link to it on youtube, I'm sure, so that way I can show off what I did.
I will update what Winston and Yugo look like with colors and textures as well as I'll show you what my illustration final will be.
Thanks for taking time to check it out.
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